


Mundane Magicks

by KalliopeMuse



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-08-20 11:32:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16554962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KalliopeMuse/pseuds/KalliopeMuse
Summary: The Mundane Magicks series, Kalliope's 2018 NaNoWriMo project





	1. Faxanadu

Faxanadu let the film slip through his fingers as he threaded it into the projector. The smoothness always filled him with a sense of nostalgia. As Fax brought down the roller arm, he heard a soft squeaking to his right.

“Are we ready to begin, old friend?” The ferret’s voice was like a whisper in his mind.

Fax sighed. It was the same every night. “Patience, Burrito.”

He clicked the arm into place, then dimmed the house lights. From the sound of the crowd below the projection booth, there was a larger turnout than usual tonight. Unsurprising as it was a holiday weekend, but with the low ticket sales in recent weeks, the news was very much welcomed.

There was a smattering of applause as the projector purred to life. Burrito shifted his weight as the credits for the film restoration played. His impatience was almost infectious.

A dramatic chord broke the silence with a suddenness that caused a few members of the audience to jump audibly in their seats. Burrito’s feet flew over the keys of the electronic keyboard as he played. The ferret always threw himself into his work fully when composing for _Nosferatu_ , especially for Halloween.

The image of peaked rooftops materialized in Fax’s mind, the musical notes from Burrito serving as well as, if not better than, eyes. The rooftops gave way to the character introductions, including a woman and her cat surrounded by flowers. Fax wiggled his fingers at the screen, filling the theater with the scent of wildflowers. There was a soft muttering of appreciation from the magic users in the audience. Only they could detect any hint of the added enhancement to the film. Fax took no greater pleasure than in hearing the audience’s initial reaction to his contribution to their film-going experience.

There was a simplistic beauty to silent films that had always appealed to Fax. Adding enhancements to movies that already had color and sound was less of a challenge. Too much clutter. Too many distractions. Few magic users appreciated the craft, especially with so many other options for entertainment in this modern age.

“Mr. Johnson?” A timid voice came from the door to the projection booth.

Fax swore internally. In a single stride, he moved to block the door as best he could with his wiry frame. He could sense the girl trying to peer past him into the booth. He’d always known hiring her was a mistake. Too curious. But someone needed to run the concession stand.

“I told you never to enter the booth during a screening!” He heard the girl recoil.

“I-I’m sorry!” She was already on the verge of tears. “There’s just…there’s a man who wants a refund for –“

“So give it to him.” Anything to get rid of the girl before she saw too much.

The girl sputtered in confusion. “But he –“

“I don’t care,” he growled. Fax reached forward to shut the door. There was a cry of pain as the door stopped short. Probably caught on the girl’s foot. A pang of guilt shot through Fax. She was bothersome, but he hadn’t intended to hurt her physically.

“You’re too harsh on the girl,” Burrito chided him, not missing a beat of the song he was playing. “Sarah cares deeply about what we do.”

“You speak as though she knows what we _actually_ do!” Fax snapped back.

“She knows more than you think.”

A chill gripped Fax’s heart. “What has she seen?”

“Nothing,” Burrito assured him. “But she has unasked questions.”

That gave Fax pause. “The scents?”

Burrito squeaked an affirmative.

Had the ferret not been in the middle of a performance, Fax would have been tempted to strangle him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Fax hissed.

“I had hoped you would discover her worth on your own.”

Fax grunted irritably. To be judged by a ferret… _Curse the day I gave that wretched creature the gift of speech._ But was he wrong? If this girl could sense magic... Fax shook his head. _No. She could not understand._

The rest of the evening went without incident. As the final notes from the keyboard faded, so too did the images from Fax’s mind. The audience applauded as he brought up the house lights.

Fax reached for his cane, finding it lying on the floor instead of in its usual position against the wall. It must have fallen when he’d blocked the door. _That girl…_

Burrito climbed up Fax’s pant leg and nestled into his jacket pocket, ready for the journey home. Normally, Fax would leave Sarah to clean up the theater while he changed over the movie posters for upcoming screenings. But tonight was different.

Fax made his way into the theater lobby, listening carefully to locate the girl. Soft footsteps and the sound of the carpet sweeper indicated she was near the main doors. From what Burrito had told him, Sarah was meticulous in her work, leaving every inch of the theater as close to pristine as she could make it. As teenagers went, he could have hired worse.

There was a soft gasp – quickly stifled – at his approach. While the girl was scared of her own shadow on a good day, after their confrontation earlier, Fax was certain her fear was a little more focused.

Fax leaned forward. “I hear you’ve been able to detect the enhancements to the films.” Another gasp. He grunted. “It’s true then.”

“How do you do it?” He could practically see the stars in her eyes at the question.

“Magic.” Sarah’s awed silence reminded him of a small boy who once hadn’t known his own abilities. Fax gestured toward the poster for the Georges Méliès classic _Le Voyage dans la Lune_. The scent of dusty rocks filled the lobby. It was difficult to know what scent would be accurate for moon rocks, but the effect achieved its desired result anyway.

“It’s real,” Sarah whispered in reverence.

Fax opened his mouth to explain further when the lobby suddenly grew freezing cold.

“Did you leave the doors open?” he growled.

The coldness dissipated instantly. “No, I…” Sarah’s voice faltered.

Suddenly, Fax understood. “That was you.”

Sarah’s voice was barely a whisper. “Yes.”

“Do it again. Please.”

There was a pause, then the chill returned, mixing with the scent of the rocks. The impression of the moon becoming tangible was even stronger.

Fax hummed thoughtfully. “Would you like to learn more?”

“Can I?!” Sarah’s excitement was palpable. Whatever fear she’d had of him had evaporated in that instant. He wished he could see her face.

“Yes,” Fax told her. “You have great potential.”

Sarah didn’t seem to know what to do with that proclamation.

“I told you she did!” Burrito squeaked triumphantly from Fax’s pocket.

“Yes, you did,” Fax begrudgingly admitted as he let the ferret out into his free hand. “Sarah, meet Burrito. He’s your biggest fan. You’ll be getting to see a lot more of him in the future.”


	2. Merylinda

Merylinda struggled to keep her footing as Lisa dragged her across the street toward the pet shop. Though as the shop’s owner, Merylinda was used to helping children pick their first familiars, it wasn’t often that she got to assist a child she knew – especially not her girlfriend’s daughter. _Everything has to be perfect._

“C’mooooon!” Lisa insisted, tugging harder on Merylinda’s arm.

Merylinda laughed. “The shop isn’t going anywhere, dear,” she teased.

Lisa let out a dramatic sigh of disgust. “But I wanna see the animals!”

“We’re almost there,” Merylinda assured her.

That only prompted Lisa to yank her forward again. “Let’s goooooo!”

Lisa only released her vise-like grip on Merylinda when they reached the door of the shop. Merylinda took a moment to stretch her hand, letting it recover before taking out her keys. Lisa hopped from foot to foot the entire time.

“Now before we go in, I want you to remember something important,” Merylinda told Lisa. A quick glance around revealed they were alone on the street. Good. “Most of the pets in the shop don’t have magical potential of their own. The ones that do, the familiars, are in the back room.”

“Okay.” The acknowledgement was impatient.

Merylinda shook her head good-naturedly and unlocked the door to the shop. Rows of creatures, furred, feathered, and scaled, were on display. Merylinda checked on them as she passed by. While a large portion of the shop’s business came from selling these animals, they would not make good familiars.

A gray screech owl was fast asleep on her bow perch near the door to the familiars’ room. Unsurprising, as she had been out late mousing the night before. As Merylinda’s familiar, Dannyl had free access to the shop through the owl equivalent of a cat door above the shop’s exit.

Merylinda found the key to the back room and turned to ask Lisa if she’d like to open the door. The girl wasn’t behind her. A surge of panic rose in Merylinda’s gut. Lisa couldn’t’ve gone far, but if anything happened to April’s daughter on her watch…

A quick retracing of steps found the girl staring up in wonder at one of the aquariums. Four tiny diamondback terrapins were paddling around in the water.

“Lisa dear, these are the ordinary pets,” Merylinda said gently, trying to steer the girl away. “The familiars are in the back room.”

The girl shook her head of blue-tinted curls and jabbed her finger toward the glass. One of the terrapins had swum over to the glass and was staring back at her. “I want that one.”

Merylinda had seen this before. Children got attached to pets from the front room, but the animals lacked the capability to become full familiars. Instead of forming a psychic link with their chosen animal, the children were left with an ordinary pet that would not respond to them. It never got any easier explaining to the children that their chosen pet would never be special like the familiars their families and friends had. She kept boxes of tissues on hand for such tragedies. The children always left with a proper familiar in the end, but there were often hours’ worth of tears prior to that happy ending.

She knelt by Lisa’s side. “There’s a whole room of familiars waiting to meet you. They need you as much as you need them. Neither human nor animal can fully realize their magical powers without a partner. This turtle has no magical ability and cannot form such a bond.”

“I don’t care!” Lisa stomped her foot and glared daggers at Merylinda. “I love Mr. Wiggles and he loves me!” The tiny terrapin blew bubbles to support the point. “He’s different,” the girl insisted.

Merylinda sighed internally. Lisa was proving to be more stubborn than most. She was starting to regret having taken April’s suggestion of bonding with Lisa over her first familiar. _If only April hadn’t been called away by work…_

She decided to humor Lisa, at least for the moment. Merylinda stood up and pulled on a pair of gloves to retrieve the terrapin from his tank. She waited for him to swim into her hand before picking him up. The terrapin was cute, she had to admit. One of the swirl patterns on his shell was shaped like an upside-down heart. But she sensed no innate magical ability within him. Her own power to detect magic meant Merylinda was uniquely suited to identify potential familiars and magic users. She hadn’t been wrong yet and this terrapin was no exception.

Lisa bounced up and down next to her, trying to get a better look at the terrapin. Merylinda held the tiny reptile out for inspection, making sure to support all of his weight in her hands. With a surprising gentleness, Lisa patted the terrapin on the head.

“He likes me!” she squealed with delight.

Merylinda’s heart sank. They _did_ seem well-suited to each other, which only made the situation more difficult. But familiars were complicated enough to care for without adding another pet into the mix. _And even if we found a way to make it work, it’s still not an option._

With a soft hoot of warning, Dannyl flew over and perched on Merylinda’s shoulder. She cocked her head curiously at the terrapin.

“This won’t end well, will it?” Her words were blunt, but Dannyl’s tone was sympathetic to Lisa’s plight.

“No one asked you!” Lisa spat out, turning her ire on the owl.

Dannyl puffed out her feathers, looking as shocked as Merylinda felt.

“You can understand her?” Merylinda asked Lisa.

“Yeah.” Lisa stared at Merylinda like she’d grown a second head. “Can’t you?”

“Well yes, but she’s _my_ familiar. No other humans can hear her.”

Lisa shrugged. “I can.”

“I see that.” The true scope of the situation was dawning on Merylinda. “And you can understand Mr. Wiggles too?”

“Yeah.” Lisa patted him on the head again. “He wants you to put him down. He doesn’t like being up high.”

Merylinda obliged the terrapin’s request, setting him back down gently in his aquarium. Mr. Wiggles slipped back into the water and wiggled his tail happily. Merylinda had never before heard of anyone who could understand others’ familiars or even regular animals.

“You have an extraordinary gift,” she told Lisa. “If you and your mom are okay with it, I’d love to have you come visit the shop more often.”

“Really?” Lisa frowned. “What about Mr. Wiggles?”

“Don’t worry, he’ll go home with you,” Merylinda assured her. “He may not be magical, but I think your power will make up the difference.”

Lisa beamed. “Didja hear that, Mr. Wiggles? You’re coming home with me!” The terrapin headbutted the side of the tank.

Merylinda smiled. “So would you like to meet the other familiars before we go home?”

“Yeah!” Lisa grabbed Merylinda’s hand and dragged her toward the door to the back room.


End file.
